Switched off AL MPs walk out again

Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House Abdul Hamid led the walkout at 6:10pm and later said at a hurriedly called news conference that the Chair failed to uphold the spirit of neutrality.

Hamid alleged that Deputy Speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui, who was chairing the session yesterday, allowed treasury benchers to make freewheel speeches on an issue that he did not even allow the opposition lawmakers to raise.

The AL legislators, however, rejoined the proceedings about an hour later, after the intermission for Magreb prayers.

Earlier, AL lawmaker Mohammad Nasim stood up on a point of order to know about the fate of a notice that he submitted the day before on breaking of tradition in appointment of chief justice by picking up a justice allegedly superseding two seniors.

As Nasim began to make his point by saying that it was something unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh, the Chair switched his mike off giving the ruling that it could not be entertained as a point of order.

Subsequently, the Chair gave floor to ruling party lawmaker Abul Khair Bhuiyan to raise his point of order. But the moment Bhuiyan started blaming former home minister Mohammad Nasim for patron ising godfathers in Laksmipur, the Chair disallowed him too.

As all the AL lawmakers sprung to their feet demanding of the speaker to let Nasim finish his statement, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Moudud Ahmed took floor and cautioned the lawmakers not to speak against the president and the chief justice as such utterances are disallowed as per article 270 (3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad.

With the microphone switched off, Nasim tried to speak at the top of his voice and make the lawmakers understand that he had nothing personal against the new chief justice. He tried to argue that he was opposing the process of the chief justice's appointment.

At this stage, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Abdul Hamid tried to make the point clear. He got floor but as he said, " the law minister spoke on an issue, which Nasim even did not get the chance to raise", the Chair put Hamid's mike off, enraging the opposition lawmakers.

Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui said he would not allow Abdul Hamid to speak on the same issue, as he did not consider it to be a point of order.

Hamid and Nasim apart, senior AL deputy Abdus Samad Azad and others repeatedly pleaded with the Chair to allow Hamid to finish making his point. But the Chair did not oblige them, prompting the AL deputies to stage the walkout.

Soon after they walked out of the House, Prime Minister's Parliamentary Affairs Advisor Salauddin Quader Chowdhury took floor to say "it's their (AL) walkout time now as per the order of the day".

In presence of the House Leader Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Health and Family Welfare Minister Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain rose to add that the Chair was right to disallow the Opposition Deputy Leader and Nasim to speak.

Having walked out of the House, Hamid spoke to journalists at an impromptu news conference at his Sangsad Bhavan meeting room. Hamid condemned the speaker's attitude. " He (Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui) gave me floor but didn't allow me to speak as he himself made a statement. What's this?"

"We don't want to walk out of the House but they (the Chair and the treasury bench) compel us to do so," said Hamid.

Opposition Chief Whip Abdus Shahid said Deputy Speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui has violated his oath by compromising on neutrality in running the House.

"The deputy speaker should keep silent while allowing MPs to take floor to speak," said Abdus Samad Azad.

Mohammad Nasim was sceptical about the neutrality of the next caretaker government and the next general election as he alleged that the new chief justice has been appointed by superseding two senior judges.